COVINGTON — The Newton County Sheriff’s Office made two arrests this week in incidents that could have turned tragic.

NCSO investigators arrested a Conyers man this week when a shotgun he was playing with accidentally discharged.

NCSO Deputy CortneyMorrison said a homeowner on Gross Lake Parkway in the Enclave subdivision called deputies on Sept. 6 when he came home and noticed what appeared to be a bullet hole in his bedroom window.

Based on where the 22-calibre round was found in the room, deputies determined the trajectory of the bullet came from a nearby home, Morrison said.

No one was at that home at the time, so she said investigators continued to look into the case. They later determined that Albert Wentworth Verwayne, 21, of 3617 Cape Lane in Conyers, had fired the weapon from that home, where he had been visiting family.

Morrison said Verwayne was at the home alone at the time and was playing with what he thought was an unloaded gun. He was charged with reckless conduct and criminal damage to property.

“There was no malicious intent; it was just an accident,” Morrison said. “We are just thankful that no one got injured.”

She said this case serves as a reminder to always treat guns with caution.

“It sounds cliche, but don’t play with guns. Always treat a gun as if it were loaded,” Morrison said. “In this case, only property was damaged, but the bullet did go through someone’s bedroom window where someone, a child or an animal could have been standing. It’s fortunate that no one was actually injured.”

In the second incident, sometime around 8 a.m. Wednesday, Lorenzo Lavar Gaston of 3570 Collier Drive, Atlanta, drove to his ex-girlfriend’s home on Bentley Place Way pick up his child. After placing the 5-year-old child in the front seat of the car, Gaston and the child’s mother began arguing about Gaston’s new girlfriend, said Morrison.

At some point, the mother placed her hand inside the passenger-side window and tried to unlock the door.

“Mr. Gaston then reached over the passenger seat to try to lock the door back so she couldn’t open it,” Morrison said. “In doing so, his foot inadvertently hit the accelerator while the car was reverse. He tried to stop the vehicle, but was unable to and it struck the residence across the street.”

Morrison said the mother did fall to the ground when the car accelerated backward, but she received only minor injuries and was treated at the scene. Morrison said it was fortunate that no one else was injured in the incident.

Gaston was arrested and charged with reckless conduct, safety restraints for children and cruelty to children in the second degree.